Center for Human Origins

CWRU’s new Center for Human Origins explores how our branch of the evolutionary tree is related to other living and fossil lineages, how we branched off, and how understanding human evolutionary biology informs current research in many fields of science and medicine.

About The Director

Bruce Latimer is a Professor of Anthropology, Anatomy, and Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University. Physical anthropologist Latimer is internationally recognized as an expert on the evolution of human locomotion. His research has helped shape our present understanding of the evolutionary processes that led to the ability of humans to walk upright on two feet. Latimer is among a group of scientists who analyzed the famous 3.2 million-year-old “Lucy” fossil skeleton. In the fall of 2009, Latimer and other members of an international scientific team that announced the discovery and identification of a new species of early human ancestor, Ardipithecus ramidus. The team also included CHO and ISO Fellows Scott Simpson, Linda Spurlock and Yohannes Haile-Selassie.